Japan's weather agency apologizes for false magnitude 9.9 quake alert
Japan's weather agency said sorry after a false alert on Friday warned of a magnitude 9.9 quake, the Asahi Shimbun and AFP reported. The real quake was a 6.9 near Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula. AFP said the agency got the quake's center wrong, and the Asahi said it ruled out a cyberattack.
The Japan Meteorological Agency apologized on Friday after issuing an emergency earthquake alert that wrongly estimated a quake's magnitude at 9.9, the Asahi Shimbun and AFP reported. The actual quake was a magnitude 6.9 near Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula, the outlets reported. AFP reported that it struck at a depth of 160 kilometers just after midday.
The alert set off loud warnings on millions of mobile phones, AFP reported. The Asahi reported that it sounded in Hokkaido, the Tohoku, Kanto, Hokuriku, Koshin and Tokai regions, and the Izu Islands. The agency issues such alerts for areas expected to feel shaking of 4 or more on Japan's 7-point intensity scale, the Asahi reported. The real quake caused shaking of only 1 in Hakodate, Hokkaido, according to the Asahi.
The agency initially placed the epicenter near the Kuril Islands, known in Japan as the Chishima Islands, the outlets reported. AFP reported that the agency withdrew the alert minutes after issuing it. The alert did not cause widespread panic but briefly disrupted public transport, AFP reported.
"We deeply apologize for the inconvenience. We are truly sorry," an agency official said at a news conference, the Asahi reported. AFP quoted agency official Shinya Tsukada as saying, "We deeply apologise for the significant inconvenience and concern caused to the public."
The agency said the error stemmed from an anomaly in calculating the epicenter, AFP reported. The magnitude estimate was based on an incorrect assumption that the epicenter was about 680 kilometers farther from Japan than it was, according to AFP. The Asahi reported that the agency said the cause was still under investigation but denied that a cyberattack was to blame.
Japan still remembers the magnitude 9.0 undersea quake in 2011, which set off a tsunami that killed or left missing about 18,500 people, AFP reported.
What we know: Japan's weather agency sent a false magnitude 9.9 alert for what was a magnitude 6.9 quake near Kamchatka, then apologized.
What we don't: What caused the epicenter miscalculation, and what the agency will change to prevent another false alert.
Where outlets agree The Asahi Shimbun and AFP both report that Japan's weather agency apologized for a false magnitude 9.9 alert about a magnitude 6.9 quake near Kamchatka.
Where they differ The outlets cited here report the same key facts so far.